OUT OF THEIR SPHERE by W. E. Cornell

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 18, 1897

OUT OF THEIR SPHERE.

By W. E. Cornell

Lying before me on the table is a copy of the December issue of the Christian Endeavourer, which one would readily recognize by the name as published in the interests of that large and rapidly growing organization, the Christian Endeavorers. Aside from the two editors in chief, there are fifty-two “associate editors,” which compose the editorial staff, among them being such noted people as Francis Murphy, Chas. H. Parkhurst, Fanny Crosby, etc.; and, judging from the crispness of its reading pages, one could not but conclude that it was a worthy exponent of the intelligence, enthusiasm, and aggressiveness generally characteristic of the vast army of young men and women that it represents.

I have no disposition to call in question the motives which actuate these young people in their efforts to do good; indeed, if there are pure motives, high ideals, and unselfish labors of love to be found anywhere in this world, they must be found among those who form this organization. The pledge they take indicates complete consecration, and is as follows:—

Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength, I promise I will strive to do whatever he would like to have me do.

Now, turning to page 7, in the article “The Appointment and Work of a Christian Citizenship Committee,” this statement is made:—

It [the society] does distinctly mean that every Christian shall demand with all his righteous might that Christ shall rule the caucus and the common council as he does the church.

Is this in accordance with the pledge? Is it just what the Lord Jesus Christ would have “every Christian” do? Is this an element of the religion of Jesus Christ? In short, is it what he taught his disciples to do? Let us look at it a moment. When he was brought before Pilate, and questioned, he said:—

“My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.”

The “caucus and the common council” are distinctively of this world; they constitute the realm in which Cæsar exercises jurisdiction; they were ordained of God for a specific purpose,—for the protection of the rights of the people,—cognizance is taken only of overt acts, and the power behind the throne is physical force. The kingdom of Christ is entirely different; it is spiritual; the motives and intents of the heart are that on which the final reckoning is made; and whether the subjects are loyal or disloyal depends wholly on their own volition. There is no force but that of love recognized. Jesus himself said, “If any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not.” These two realms are distinct and separate. Christ on one occasion, when his critics were seeking to entangle him, made this point clear when he said, “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

It seems to me that it is as clear as that two and two make four, that if the “caucus and the common council” were ruled in the same manner that Christ does the church, anarchy and confusion would be the result. Notice! Does

the civil law forgive a transgressor and suspend infliction of the penalty simply because he asks to be forgiven?—Never; yet this is what those in the church are enjoined to do—even until seventy times seven.

Now, when these young people assume to place Christ in the “caucus and the common council” as ruler, can they say in truth that they are doing—“whatsoever he would like to have me do”? By the Saviour’s own words, the answer is emphatic, No.

W. E. CORNELL.

Des Moines, Iowa.